Tropical Bananas

Tropical Bananas

In Australia, bananas are grown in both tropical and subtropical regions. This ensures the industry has good diversity in terms of:

the geographical location of banana farms

farming practices

the size and type of farms that grow bananas

the varieties of bananas grown and

their flavour.

Where are the tropical regions?

The tropical banana-growing regions are in north Queensland, the Northern Territory and the northern parts of Western Australia. There are also subtropical growing regions in south-east Queensland, Western Australia and northern New South Wales.

North Queensland

In north Queensland, the Cassowary Coast region, including Tully and Innisfail is the major banana-growing region – not only for north Queensland but for all Australia. Other major growing areas are the Atherton Tablelands and Lakeland.

The first banana plantations were started by the Chinese migrants working on the goldfields. In the Tully area, bananas were shipped to market via the Tully River and, in Innisfail, on the South Johnstone River.

The trade in north Queensland bananas stopped during World War I when there were restrictions on local shipping and outbreaks of plant disease.

The banana industry re-established in the area at the end of World War II in 1945. Stan MacKay and a number of other growers began farming in the Mission Beach area near Tully. Bananas were packed in 40kg wooden boxes and transported to market by rail up until the 1960s when road transport was introduced. Today bananas are packed in cardboard cartons and transported by both road and rail in refrigerated containers.

The industry has grown substantially and the total farm area producing bananas in north Queensland in 2016 was 11,800 hectares.

The Northern Territory

The Territory is Australia’s northern most banana production area. However, the soil-borne fungal disease Panama has substantially reduced banana production there. The disease was identified in the Northern Territory in the 1990s. Consequently in 2012 there was only four commercial banana plantations.

In 2013, the exotic disease Banana Freckle was detected near Darwin. This resulted in a national Eradication Response. All bananas of hosts of the disease were removed from the eradication zones of the Top End. Commercial production is expected to restart in this region in mid 2017.

Western Australia

Some 120 hectares of bananas are grown in the far north of Western Australia, near Kununurra in the eastern Kimberley region close to the Northern Territory border.

Banana Industry Water Quality Strategy

The banana industry has a great reputation for adopting environmental best management practices. The majority of growers respect the natural environment and the Great Barrier Reef and understand the impact their farming can have on the quality of water in local catchments.

The North Queensland banana industry Water Quality Strategy 2017-2020 has been written with a focus on extension and working with growers to help them improve their adoption of nutrient and sediment management practices.